We had some great ideas from the South East region this year, with a number of Regional Finalists coming from Goldsmiths University.
Sarah Rex-Lawson is looking to launch Clarity, which will tackle mental health issues and behavioural manifestations of trauma in secondary school children through meditation and counselling services, and an app aimed to teach emotional intelligence by providing information on how to identify certain emotions, and how to navigate and cope with these emotions.
Canterbury Christ Church student Daniel Simon is looking to tackle climate change through his Persephone Initiative. The circular project will aim to reduce landfill waste, educate the public and improve lifestyle choices, while reducing companies overexploiting raw materials, such as aviation fuel from used cooking oil.
Deborah Tng wants to tackle the socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts that are associated with over-tourism. According to UNWTO, transport-related emissions from tourism are expected to account for 5.3% of all man-made CO2 emissions by 2030, up from 5% in 2016. Her Thread Lightly platform will adopt a peer-to-peer model where both hosts and travellers can safely exchange culturally immersive virtual experiences.
Shaniqua Mckenzie’s E.D.I. will aim to address inequalities and discrimination in recruitment and the workplace, by offering businesses affordable and accessible HR employee relations support to help solve grievances and disciplinaries. E.D.I will be a voice for the voiceless and give underrepresented groups the opportunity for their concerns about recruitment and workplace discrimination to be heard and vocalised.
Originally from Mexico City, artist Jorge Gomez Uriza wants to create a recycling service which takes used car tyres and repurpose them for sustainable building materials.
Rachel Kamana founded the Pamoja na Watoto Foundation (PAWA), aiming to build solid and poverty-free communities in DR Congo through empowerment and education. The Foundation will provide scholarships and vocational training to help alleviate poverty in communities that have experienced trauma.
Japanese artist Yoko Nakashima wants to increase in artists’ awareness of social and environmental issues and an improvement of the practices within the performing arts industry through a fan-led platform.
If you’re inspired by our participants’ stories, and want to support their businesses, get in touch at ingenuity@nottingham.ac.uk
